Sidley has been recognized at the China Law & Practice Awards 2022 in the “Project & Energy Deal of the Year” category for its work representing China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Company Ltd. (CNODC) in the development and production of Brazil’s Búzios oil field, the world’s largest discovered deepwater oil field. The awards recognize “the biggest and most important commercial legal matters that involved lawyers and parties in China.”
Sidley applied its strong multinational oil and gas capabilities to find innovative solutions to the complexities posed by this unprecedented project. The consortium, comprising Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda., and CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda., was awarded the Production Sharing Contract (Búzios PSC) for the surplus volume of the Búzios field from the Transfer of Rights Agreement previously awarded to Petrobras.
The award was made through Brazil’s first Transfer of Rights surplus bidding round, which is the largest offering of discovered oil reserves since Iraq opened up its oil fields in 2009. Sidley negotiated a host of complex project agreements, including Brazil’s first ever co-participation agreement and co-participation operating agreement, which are designed to regulate the coexistence of the Transfer of Rights Agreement and the Búzios PSC in respect of the Búzios field. The co-participation agreement became effective as of September 1, 2021, marking the milestone for the Búzios PSC consortium to start extracting oil from the Búzios field.
The team was led by Tao Lan (Beijing), Brian Bradshaw (Houston), and Gloria Wang (Beijing), and also included Jason Menzies (London).
